Review: The Avett Brothers – True Sadness (Universal Music Canada)

After the release of back-to-back albums in 2012-2013, the acclaimed Avett Brothers let the creative process percolate a little more in the making of their latest effort, True Sadness. While the group still offers their solemn, roots-inspired moments throughout the course of the record (“No Hard Feelings,” “Mama, I Don’t Believe,” and “I Wish I Was”), the happy-go-lucky album opener “Ain’t No Man” – a track that has yet to really grow on me – defies all notions of what fans have come to expect from the group. The album’s stand out track – “Fisher Road To Hollywood” – sings of excess and regret in a way that is somewhat startling to hear coming from the group, making it one of their most powerful songs of the last seven years. Even though the Avetts are not completely reinventing the wheel, there remains a sense of adventure that ultimately propels True Sadness forward.